Irvine still hoping for Jordan chance

Eddie Irvine said he has unfinished business with Formula One and is still
hoping for a chance to partner Giancarlo Fisichella at Jordan. Made
redundant from Jaguar at the end of this season, Irvine has been strongly
linked with Jordan recently.

Eddie Irvine said he has unfinished business with Formula One and is still
hoping for a chance to partner Giancarlo Fisichella at Jordan. Made
redundant from Jaguar at the end of this season, Irvine has been strongly
linked with Jordan recently. With Takuma Sato heading to BAR as test driver
for 2003, the second race seat alongside Fisichella is currently the hottest
property in F1.

Eddie Irvine.

Photo by Jaguar Racing.

"The one thing which keeps me going is believing I still have a chance to
drive for Jordan," Irvine wrote in his UK newspaper column. "I have
unfinished business in Formula One and would love the chance to team up with
Giancarlo because that would be a mega line-up. My whole life has revolved
around racing and the spark is still there. It's been really weird not being
part of winter testing."

The Irishman managed to score all of Jaguar's eight points in 2002 but it
wasn't enough for the team to keep him on. Since then speculation has been
rife about his future and Jordan seems to be his best chance. However, other
drivers have also been linked with the Jordan vacancy so there's no
certainty it will be Irvine that gets it.

"While it's clear that Eddie Irvine is out there, there are a number of highly-talented young drivers
about," said John Gallagher, Jordan's head of marketing, according to the BBC. "We are looking at both
Ralph Firman and Richard
Lyons, and there is also Anthony Davidson to include in that list." Firman, who recently tested for BAR,
and Lyons both raced in the Formula Nippon series.

Irvine has been keeping a fairly low profile over the winter but is missing
being behind the wheel: "I miss trying to find ways of making the car go
quicker," he said. "Working with engineers to evaluate various components on
the car is fun."